Proper 16
Notes
Transcript
Live with the Lord whose Words are Spirit and Life
Live with the Lord whose Words are Spirit and Life
Longer summary: The Tru Tradition of the Church is the Ministry of the Gospel of Christ Jesus, Her Savior: The true tradition of the Church is the Gospel, which is the preaching and administration of Christ Jesus. Other traditions, although not commanded by God, may serve and support that sacred tradition of the Gospel. But the Church dare not “[reject] the commandment of God” in order to establish or hold to “the tradition of men” (Mark 7:8–9). Sinful people attempt to draw near to the Lord “with their mouth” and to honor Him “with their lips,” while their hearts are far removed from Him (Is. 29:13). Yet, He is “the Holy One of Israel,” who brings about salvation by His cross. Therefore, “the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,” but “the deaf shall hear” and “the eyes of the blind shall see” (Is. 29:14–19). This mystery of Christ is profound, for He is the husband of the Church, and He is her Savior. Not because of any works that she has done, but solely for the sake of His great love, He “gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word” (Eph. 5:25–26).
Collect of the Day: Almighty God, whom to know is everlasting life, grant us to know Your Son, Jesus, to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow His steps in the way that leads to life eternal; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God.
“Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if you be unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods; for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land; therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”
notes: Fear and serve Yahweh. Choose this day whom you will serve, Yahweh or the other gods, gods of your ancestors (before Abraham left Babylon, or the gods of your neighbors. It has been said the Bible wasn’t written to us but it was written for us. We have to make that same choice today. And we as Christians are not immune to backsliding, falling into idolatry ourselves. So when we take the Lord’s Supper examine yourselves to see if anything else has crept in and become number one in our lives, be it success and career, material things, house, cabin, car, all those things together, fame or reputation. Or even good things like family and spouse. God created all things, but they must be secondary to God Himself.
But at my stumbling they gathered in glee, they gathered together against me; cripples whom I knew not slandered me without ceasing; they impiously mocked more and more, gnashing at me with their teeth. How long, O Lord, wilt thou look on? Rescue me from their ravages, my life from the lions! Then I will thank thee in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise thee. Let not those rejoice over me who are wrongfully my foes, and let not those wink the eye who hate me without cause. For they do not speak peace, but against those who are quiet in the land they conceive words of deceit. They open wide their mouths against me; they say, “Aha, Aha! our eyes have seen it!” Thou hast seen, O Lord; be not silent! O Lord, be not far from me!
notes: This is a psalm that is read (sung about) three Sundays in a row. So take note that it is amongst the very best according to those who compiled the lectionary. We know and love Psa 1 and 23, 51 and 119, even 24, 2, 90, 91 and 121. But this is one of that group.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; besides all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that utterance may be given me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
notes: we are soldiers, we are in a war. Don’t be a casualty of the war, but, more importantly, be someone who lays earth-shaking body blows to the enemy. And it can be done by patient peaceful, loving, consistent work. In fact, most of the good we can do is in that category, a) finish high school, b) get a job and keep it, c) get married and stay married, d) have kids that will also do abc and more importantly, know and love the Lord Jesus Christ. But there are ways other than that that we can be salt and light. Don’t undersell yourself, not because you can do anything yourself (unless the Lord builds the house), but because God created us and want us to be, by his grace and work within, vehicles for the new kingdom of God which cannot be stopped.
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever.” This he said in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum. Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at it, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you that do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who those were that did not believe, and who it was that would betray him. And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him. Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
notes: this is our last of our five weeks in John 6. Let’s take stock
Proper 12 (July 25) Joh 6.1-21 We are Filled with the Bread of God
Proper 13 (Aug 1) Joh 6.24-35 Believe, then Hunger and Thirst no More
Proper 14 (Aug 8 Joh 6.35, 41-51 The Bread that has Come Down from Heaven
Proper 15 (Aug 15) Joh 6.51-58 Eat the Bread, Drink the Wine, and Live Forever
Proper 16 (Aug 22) Joh 6.56-69 Live with the Lord whose Words are Spirit and Life
notes:
Fuller has an important comment, that last week’s reading was about the Eucharistic aspect of Jesus as the bread of life, this week it is Jesus as heavenly wisdom so the teaching itself is difficult, and many went back, even disciples (the greater group of disciples).
2. I found great notes in the CDR (Catholic Daily Readings attached note to this Sunday
Nocent gives a brief recapitulation of these Bread of Life passages we've read and heard these past few weeks.
12 (Nocent and OLM's 17) multiplication of the loaves, crowd wants to make Jesus king.
13 Jews follow Jesus for the wrong reasons, they want bread. Jesus says he is the bread of life, that is more important or the starting point of true life, not perishable food.
14 Crowd objects "Isn't this Joseph's son, how can he be (bread) from heaven?" Jesus says, in effect, "you have to get this point, once you do, you'll never understand what it means for me to say "I am the bread of life from heaven. you have to eat my flesh and drink my blood."
15 Not only is Christ the bread he gives the bread. Give here meaning lay down his life for the sins of the world. And give means "take, eat..." the eucharist.
16 (Jesus in effect agrees with Peter who says) "This is hard to understand, I'll admit that" and you'll never get it unless the Father draws you, unless you have that light turn on inside that will only come on through the grace of God. And when it does, you'll see that this whole multiplying of bread miracle — it was not that important that your stomachs were filled, they will be empty again a few hours from now. This is meant to point you to the deeper realities of spiritual bread. If you "eat" me you not only have your sins forgiven but you are full on your inside, in your spirit. That is true life, Peter said "to whom shall we go?" That is exactly where you need to be.
Earlier before I discovered Nocent notes: This means a) it is the bread of Christ b) faith is necessary to partake of this food, it is epiousias, supernatural substance c) this bread is unlike anything of this world d) take communion often e) this is how you live life
and today we finish. Let’s look first at today’s pericope. When Jesus compares the people then eating his bread (flesh) it isn’t a cannabalistic, devouring, lustful “I gotta have” attitude. It is more a partaking, as one partakes of earthly bread to stay alive. We will live forever but we have to eat, that is the point today. Life comes from partaking of Jesus, eternal life. It is a matter of faith. And note that most left, even his disciples, that greater group that didn’t just see him once. It is a hard saying, do you think it is? Nevertheless, if you need more insight, ask Him. Ask the Comforter and Helper to come alongside and let spiritual words speak to spirit, God’s spirit in you that redeems the spirit you were born with.
Taking all the passages together we know Jesus is the bread come down from heaven. The primary application is to the Lord’s Supper but it is definitely the every day partaking and abiding in Him.
We are in the time common time, ordinary time, proper time. It is the part of the Church year with the Holy Spirit in focus, the time of the year that the Church is in focus. Since we have followed Christ through the promise of His coming, his incarnation and birth of Advent, his baptism by John and early ministry and his manifestation and revealing to the world that He is the Messiah in the season of Epiphany, his last journey to Jerusalem and arrest, trial, and death of Holy Week, and his resurrection and appearances in the season of Easter, now we as the Church since we are in the season of the Holy Spirit and the Church, we need to know the most important things to help us grow up in Him, to be strong, to be mature, to be the kind of people the people of God need to be. Certainly that happens Monday to Saturday when you have individual quiet time and devotional times with your families. But primarily the Church is the weekly gathering of God’s people, to sing together, together to confess our sins and receive absolution, together partaking the Eucharist, together in prayer and service to each other and to our communities. Together is where the Spirit of God dwells.
